Indicator



A r l e, 1926. 1,580,013

58 5.9 i l i 56 l I 5 g 5 I L U g4 I w a.

WITNESS: ATTORNEY April 6, 1926. Y 1,580,013

R. L. CAMPBELL INDICATOR Fiied June 14. 1923 2 Sheqts-Sheet 2 0% 5 7 ZLL. mf iu/ wrruss: ATTORNEY mechanism is set.

tention of the occupant.

Patented Apr. 6,

a 1 f ROBEzltT 'LEEI CAMPBELL, on monnrs'rown, meme IivnIcAroR.

pl at ion filed .Tune 14,

To whom concern/ Be it known that I, RO ERT State of Tennessee, have invented newand useful Improvements ii -Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to signals orindicators and has; for its object the'provision of a novel device which is designed to. be mounted at the door ofa dwelling, office or other building and operable whereby to a'ppraise a visitor as to whether or not the oc-, cupant is at home or away, the indication given of course depending upon the way'the An importantiobject is the" provisioii of a device of this character which is inactive unless the visitor pushes the push button for ringing the bell and attractingjtl'ie a't- An additional object is the provision of a device of this character which will be'simple andinexpensive in manufacture and installation, efficient and durable in use and a With the above and other ob"ects and advantages in View the invention'consists in the details of construction to be; hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is system, i b

Figure 2 is' a detail elevation of the indicator on a larger scale,

diagrammatic view o'fthe Figure 3 is a vertical section therethrough, V

'{ Figure '4 is a horizontal section,

Figure 5 is a'detail view of the indicator member or movable'element and r The remaining figures are detail views. Referringinore particularly to the drawings I make use of an indicator comprising a casing 10 provided in its front with a dial 11 bearing-anyjdesired reading matter but preferably the name of the householder, of-

iice tenant or other owner of the signal and also bearing any other matter designed to explain the action in case a visitor is not. familiar with what the device is for. The dial is provided with a slot 12 for a purpose to be described. Mounted at the top of the casing 10 is a suitable bracket carrying a reflector l3 in which is heldan'incandescent bulb 14 which may conveniently be a flash light bulb and which is for the purpose of a stop bracket 18.

1923; Serial No. 545,428.

a illuminating the dial at night or "in tact L, CAMPBELL, a citizen of theUnited State'aresiding at Y Morristown, in the county of Hamblen and any'other time casfe'such is desired." 9 Located within thecasing 107a'nd iin- I mediate'ly in back of the dial 'is a roller 15 mounted on a spindle- 16 suitably journaled' and carrying a transverse needle 17 formed as a permanentmagnet adapted to engage Positioned "to attract this needle is an electromagnet 1 9whieh when '65 energized by current flowingfin one fdirection will attract the needle; and "move the roller 15 in one direction, and which when i energized by current flowing; in the other directioniiwill afitractlthe needle and move 70 the roller in 'the opposite direction; Wren theroller. is in its .neutrai position andfheld "as for instance by ahairasp'ring or 'the lik'e,

not shown, 'theneedle engagesgthe br'acke't'IS.

This roller carries ind'icia or legeiidshla- 7 plied thereto by any desired means though a convenient method is' 'toprovide a "strip 7 of paperwliich is securedto the '-1'oller ahd 1 I which bears the'two legends At home. and

Not here.l Between these twolegen'dsfisaw blank space which normally exposed through the slot l'2when the device; is in neutral or" non-signalling position; :IY'hen the electromagnet is energized the needle will be attracted and the roller will be '85 turned in one direction "orthe other so that the proper'one of the lege ds; will 'be th s 7 played through the slot in the dial.

- In connection with the above described mechanism I provide an ordinary push bfut- '90 ton 20 which is located ontlie doorfra-ihenn any'other place desired and which is intended to be pushed by a visitor to ring the bellforattracting'the. attention of the occupant. I also employ a conventional electric bell 21, two or more dry cells 22 and a double pole,- double throw reversing switch 23; The dry battery is connected by. a wire 24 with one terminal 25 of the switch, which terminal" agonally opposite terminal 26. The other pole of the battery is connected by a wire 27 with a third terminal28- oi the switch which is in turn connected with the diagonally opposite terminal 29.- The switch includes the usual blades 30 and 31 which are pivoted at 32 and 33 respectively and which are 'm'ovable into engagement with the contacts 25 and 28 or 26 and 29. The

pivot 82 of the switch is connected by a wire i 34 with the'push button and the push button is also connected bya ii-e735 to one s connected with the di- 100" terminal of the electric bell which has its other terminal connected by a wire 36 with the other pivot 33 of the switch. Connected with the wire 36 is a branch wire 37 which is connected with the electromagnet 19 which has its other terminal connected by a wire 38 with a wire 39 which connects with the wire 35. The electric lamp has its terminals connected with the wires 37 and 39 by wires 10 and 41. By this diagram it will be seen that the electromagnet is in parallel with the bell and that the incandescent bulb is also in parallel therewith so that when the bell is energized by pressure upon the push button the lamp and electromagnet will be energized at the same time as the bell so that a signal will be given if t ie switch is in either one of its operative positions. If the switch is in neutral position the entire system is inoperative.

In the operation it will be seen that if the switch has its blades in engagement with the contacts and 28 the direction of current through the electromagnet wi l be opposite to the direction it would have if the blades of the switch were in engagement with the contacts 26 and 29. In fact the whole purpose of this switch is to reverse the direction of current flow. If the occupant is at home he throws the switch to the proper limit of its movement whereupon when a visitor presses the push button the bell will ring, the light will light and the electromagnet will be energized to attract the needle 18 and swing the roller 15 into such position that the legend At home will be visible through the slot 12. Upon going out it is intended that the householder throw the switch in the other direction, whereupon when a visitor applies pressure to the push button, the circuit will be closed for ringing the bell and lighting the light but the direction of current flow through the electromagnet will be reversed which will cause the needle 18 and consequently the roller 15 to be moved in the opposite direction so that the legend. Not here. will be visible through the slot.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings it will be apparent that I have thus provided a simply constructed and easily installed signalling device which will be highly efficient and convenient for the purpose specified and which will save a visitor the annoyance of repeatedly ringing a bell for quite a while and determining that the occupant is not home.

Nhile I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention it is of course to be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes in the form construction and arrangement of parts as will not depart from the spirit of the invention or the'scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

A signal device of the character described comprising an enclosing casing having a dial provided with a vertically elongated slot, a rectangular frame member mounted within the casing at the intermediate portion there of, a vertically arranged cylinder pivoted within said frame to the rear of said slot, a permanent magnetic needle of angular formation carried by said cylinder and having a vertical portion projecting above said frame and engageable therewith for limiting rotative movement of the cylinder in both directions, said cylinder bearing indications adapted to be displayed through the slot, and an electro-magnet mounted in horizontal position within the casing in position to attract or repel said polarized permanent magnetic needle.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

ROBERT LEE CAMPBELL. 

